Self-dumping bucket-and-bail container



y 1957 R. YAKOPEC 2,798,758

SELFK-DUMPING BUCKETAND-BAIL CONTAINER I Filed May 29, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet l MIN W i5; I

if J0 Inventor Pwamw )Z/(OPEQ y 1957 R. YAKOPEC 2,798,758

SELF-DUMPING BUCKET-AND-BAIL CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 29,1953 2,798,758 Patented July 9, 1957 SELF-DUMPIN G BUCKET-AND-BAILCONTAINER Rudolph Yakopec, Garyton, Ind., assignor to United StatesSteel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application May 29, 1953,Serial No. 358,226

1 Claim. (Cl. 294-73) The present invention relates generally toapparatus for handling material and more particularly to a self-dumpingbucket-and-bail type container.

Bucket type containers adapted to be carried by overhead cranes havelong been an important tool of industry for transferring material fromone point to another. One example of this is the widespread use in themetal industry of bucket type containers for collecting and handlingscrap metal. As a result of the various steps of processing in theproduction of metal, such as various forms of steel, scrap metalaccumulates at various points throughout the mill. Various types ofscrap boxes are placed at a number of locations throughout the mill inwhich scrap metal is deposited and subsequently carried away fordisposition by remelting or other means.

Scrap boxes in use prior to my invention were of various design, themost common being an open top rectangular shaped box having hooks orholes in two opposite sides for engagement with the lift cable of anoverhead crane. When the box was filled, the lift cables were attachedto the box and it was carried to a railway gondola car by the overheadcrane for subsequent removal from the mill. This procedure required aworkman to attach the lift cables to the box and then to unhook onecable when the box had reached its destination so that it could bedumped by the crane. After the box had been dumped, it was necessary forthe workman to reattach the cables and then remove them after the emptybox had been returned to its customary location. This procedure causedloss of production time in many instances since the boxes were usuallylocated adjacent a production line and it was necessary to shut down theline each time the box was handled. Manual hooking and unhooking of thebox also created a safety hazard for the workman involved.

I propose to eliminate these disadvantages by providing a bucket havinga bail attached thereto which may be simply manipulated by a crane hookto carry and dump the bucket, thus increasing considerably the speedwith which the bucket may be handled and eliminating the necessity for aworkman to manually prepare the bucket each time it is handled therebyreducing the safety hazard ordinarily present in the operation.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to provide an improvedbucket and bail type container which may be carried and dumped andotherwise handled solely by a cranemans manipulation of a crane lifthook.

This and other objects will become more apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the ball of the containerof the present invention disengaged preparatory to dumping;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the bucket in dumpingposition; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of the lift portion of the bail.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral2'designates the bucket of my invention. Bucket 2 is substantiallyrectangular in shape and has a bottom 4, two opposed sides 6, a closedend 8 and a partially open sloping end 10. A trunnion 12 is attached toand projects outwardly from each of the sides 6 at a point offset fromthe center of gravity of the bucket. A catch lug 14 is provided on theexterior of each of the sides 6 spaced from the trunnion 12.

The bucket 2 is provided with a bail lfiwvhich is made up of ahorizontal cross member 18 formed with an enlarged center portion19having a hole 20 therethrough, and a pair of substantially L-shapedrigid legs 22 depend ing from each end of the cross member 18 Each leg22 is comprised of a relatively long shank portion 24 having a slot 26therein and a relatively short hook end 28 adapted to engage the stoplug 14. The bail is attached to the bucket by the trunnions 12 slidablyfitting in the slots 26. The slots 26 are dimensioned so as to permitrelative slidable movement between the legs and the trunnions within theconfines of the slots. The slots are arranged so that they extend in aplane offset from the vertical when the hook ends 28 engage the catchlugs 14, as best shown in Figure 2. This arrangement causes the hookends 28 to move angularly away from the stop lugs when the bail islowered relative to the trunnions. A projection 30 may be provided onthe exterior of each of the side walls 6 adjacent the end 8 adapted toengage the legs 22 to prevent the bail from falling over the end 8 ofthe bucket when it is lowered to reclining position. The cross member 18limits the movement of the bail in the opposite direction. The bail isshown in the two reclining positions by broken lines in Figure 2.

In operation, the bucket may be located in any desired location with thebail reclined toward either end of the bucket. When it is desired toremove the bucket, the hook of an overhead crane (not shown) is loweredand engaged in the hole 20 of the bail. After the bail is engaged by thehook, the craneman lifts the bail vertically so that the hook ends 28engage the catch lug 14 after which continued raising of the crane hooklifts the bucket. The engagement of the hook ends 28 with the catch lug14 maintain the bucket in a horizontal position while it is being liftedand carried by the crane. When the bucket reaches its destination and itis desired to dump the contents thereof, the bucket is first lowered toa resting position after which the craneman continues to lower the bailalong the trunnions 12 to release the hook ends 28 from engagement withthe catch lug 14. When the hook ends have been released, the bail ismoved in the direction toward the closed end 8 of the bucket until thehook ends 28 rise clear of the catch lugs 14. When the ends 28 havecleared the lugs, as shown in Figure 3, the bail is lifted vertically toraise one end of the bucket and dump its contents, as shown in Figure 4.As will be seen in Figure 4, the projections 30 engage the legs 22 ofthe bail to limit the tilting of the bucket as the bail is lifted. Ifdesired, the projections 30 may be eliminated to allow the bucket totilt freely as the bail is raised. The positions of the projections 30may also be varied according to the amount of tilt desired when thebucket is dumped. After the bucket has been emptied, it may be returnedto its customary location in tilted position or, if preferable, it maybe righted after dumping by lowering it to resting position again,reengaging the lugs 14 with the hook ends 28 and then again raising thebucket by lifting the bail vertically.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparentthat other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

Self-dumping material handling apparatus comprising a bucket having twoparallel side walls and a bail for lifting said bucket, a trunnion onthe exterior of each of said side walls, said trunnions being disposedin a common horizontal plane offset from a central transverse planethrough said bucket, an abutment on the exterior of each of said sidewalls, said abutment being "disposed in a common horizontal plane spacedabove said trunnions and on the opposite side of said central transverseplane from said trunnions, said bail including spaced L-shaped hangerbars depending one on each side of said bucket, each of said hanger barshaving a shank and a hook end extending from the bottom of the shank,the hook end of each shank extending toward the abutment on the sidewall of the bucket adjacent to its respective shank, the top side of'each of said hook ends being adapted to engage the underside of one ofsaid abutments, each of said shanks having a slot in the bottom portionthereof for slidably receiving one of said trunnions, said slots beingso dimensioned that said hook ends engage the undersides of saidabutments and the bottoms of said slots engage said trunnions when saidbars are raised vertically relative to said bucket, said slots beingarranged in a plane offset from the vertical when said hook ends engagesaid abutments whereby the bars are moved laterally to clear saidabutments when the bars are lowered'relative to the bucket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS850,587 Kortvellyessy Apr. 16, 1907 902,223 Focht Oct. 27, 19081,131,748 Stuebner Mar. 16, 1915 1,449,661 Forsythe Mar. 27, 19232,215,844 Van Syckle Sept. 24, 1940 "mf- .mrinmu

